Quick Review: Lowepro Photo Hatchback 16LAW

This will be a quick review for this backpack, based on a M 4/3 user's experience. I've found plenty of reviews on the larger 22L version, but not much on the 16L. It's virtually the same bag, except slightly smaller.

The bag is very low-profile compared to many others I have looked at. It has a minimalist approach to styling, with only a few zippers and 2 mesh pockets on the sides to hold water bottles or a tiny tripod. (Note: I can fit my Oben CT-3500 in one of the pockets, but it is pretty stretched)

The main camera compartment is at the bottom, and rests against your back, so it's not made for fast lens switching without removing it off your body. that's fine for me, as I plan on using this mainly when traveling. (Which I just did on a trip to L.A.) I have a Thinktank Citywalker 10 that I use as my normal daily bag.

One of the biggest problems us mirrorless users have is the depth of most bags is made for larger kits. That is not the case with this bag, as you can see below:

In this compartment I can fit my OMD with the 1st part of the HLD-6 attached (but no lens attached), and the 2nd part in a separate section. I can also fit the Panny 25 1.4 (underneath the flash pouch) and 45-175, along with the Oly 12-50, all with hoods attached. I also put in the EPM2 with the 14 2.5 attached. All of this fits nicely, and the depth is perfect for it. And for those that care, the entire compartment can be removed to use the backpack without it.

Another photo of all the gear I keep in the bottom:

Top compartment has alarge open space, with a divided mesh pocket on one side with a zippered compartment on the other.

Then there's a zipper on the back that has 2 separate sections, which I kept my ipad and nexus 7 for the past trip. I'll normally only bring one or the other, but it was nice to be able to bring both.

Here's everything I took with me in the bag:

It's pretty insane how much stuff I put in this thing, and I never felt like it was over-stuffed. Even with all of this equipment, the weight surprisingly wasn't bad. I would imagine that's because the bag is not as deep as others, so all the weight is closer to your body.

Wow, except for the quick access of my caselogic sling bag (which can fit just about the same amount), this bag looks to be great. I also have the large dakine sequence that I use for travel primarily for the reason that it opens against your back, which provides a great measure of security as well.

thanks for posting, I was really curious how much can be stuffed in this little bag and I'm quite surprised you can get two bodies and 3 lenses in the dedicated compartment alone. I ended up going with an f-stop kenti for the option to carry a small notebook.